Only one of two scheduled
applications was heard July 23 during an hour-long
meeting of the Fanwood Planning Board, after Chairman
Gregory S. Cummings announced at the outset that the
second appeal had been postponed until the boards
next meeting on Wednesday, August 27. The major part of
last weeks meeting dealt with the boroughs
Master Plan, as well as a proposed merger of the Planning
Board and the Board of Adjustment.

Kathleen Daniele of La Grande
Avenue received the boards approval for conditional
use of her home for a cruise travel business. Although
she is affiliated with a travel agency, Mrs. Daniele said
this would be a separate venture. She reported that 80
percent of her business would be done over the telephone
and the remainder by mail, adding that there would be no
need for clients to come to her home. Mrs. Daniele also
stated that there would be no need for a business sign on
her property.

The board postponed a public
hearing on an application by Ernest Fantini of Edison for
an amended subdivision and site plan to develop a piece
of property which he owns on Fifth Avenue. The applicant,
who board representatives said had not completed his
obligation to notify neighbors of the appeal in time for
last weeks meeting, lost an earlier bid in April to
develop an adjacent lot.

Mr. Fantini was granted a
subdivision in 1985 which would have allowed him to build
two homes. He recently sought to alter the agreement,
however, by increasing the total lot coverage and
frontage for a new home, and by proposing to construct a
new driveway to open onto Fifth Street rather than onto
La Grande Avenue, as was stipulated in the original plan.
The board cited safety concerns regarding the driveway
among its reasons for denying Mr. Fantini his previous
appeal.

During a separate discussion
concerning revisions to the Master Plan, Edward Sargent,
a member of both the Planning Board and the Fanwood
Volunteer Rescue Squad, urged that the updated plan
include a provision addressing the impact certain future
large-scale development projects could have on the
ability of the Rescue Squad and the Fanwood Volunteer
Fire Department to respond to emergency situations.

Mr. Sargent cited as examples
the Chelsea at Fanwood, an assisted living facility on
the former site of the Mansion Hotel, and Childrens
Specialized Hospital, both on South Avenue. He explained
that these facilities comprise multiple individual units
occupied by handicapped or elderly individuals, making
transportation or evacuation procedures particularly
difficult.

The board member noted the
assisted living facility also has created an increase in
the number of calls to the rescue squad, at the same time
that the squad is having difficulty covering all its
shifts. Another problem, he observed, is that some
members of the squad are older people themselves and that
transporting a large person down from one of the
Chelseas upper floors could cause an additional
strain.

Board members subsequently
discussed Mayor Maryanne S. Connellys
recommendation that the Planning Board and Board of
Adjustment be combined. Under the new format, the Board
of Adjustment would be phased out and the Planning Board
would assume the duties and responsibilities of the
former. The Mayor, who also serves on the Planning Board,
nevertheless conceded that it is a topic "which will
have to be discussed at greater length" before any
action is taken.

Mayor Connelly explained that
there are often not enough volunteers for a quorum on
both boards, and that merging the two would also reduce
the costs associated with maintaining the dual boards.
Board Secretary Ruth Page confirmed that the number of
applications heard by the Planning Board has dwindled
over the past five years.

Councilwoman Karen M. Schurtz,
who also sits on the Planning Board, said she has
discussed the proposal with Mayor Michael Tripodi of
Kenilworth, which combined its own Planning and Zoning
Boards. She is also researching the matter through New
Jersey Planning Officials, an organization of which
Fanwood is a member. Mrs. Schurtz said "it may not
be necessary" to increase the number of meetings to
accommodate the new system.

Board attorney Robert Mega,
however, said that when the same arrangement was tried in
Clark, it created "a haphazard time for the
secretary" because public hearings were being held
during agenda sessions in order to compensate for the
absence of a second board. He remarked that the township,
which he described as being similar to Fanwood in terms
of its appeals caseload, eventually reverted to its
former system of separate boards.